


The Journey Shall Be Made

by NoOneKnowsIWriteThis



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Ficlet, First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Slash, Pyre AU, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 07:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14929439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoOneKnowsIWriteThis/pseuds/NoOneKnowsIWriteThis
Summary: A Pyre AU that no one asked for.Julian has been exiled from the Commonwealth for the crime of literacy. In the Downside he meets a strange band of people who take him in, the strangest of all is Garak.





	The Journey Shall Be Made

**Author's Note:**

> A quick description of the different races mentioned:  
> Saps - Tree people, kinda like smaller Ents  
> Harps - Harpies  
> Wyrm - Small snake-like creatures  
> Nomads - Humans  
> Savages - Humans who were ostracized while in the Commonwealth

Julian sat on the seat of the wagon, still feeling overwhelmed. Everything had happened so quickly. He'd been convicted and cast into the Downside as an exile before he'd fully realized what was happening, and then he'd only just begun to get his bearings when he'd been picked up by this wagon of strangers.

 

The group's leader, a Sap named Sisko, was hovering over a cooking pot attempting to make something pleasant to eat. The other members had also gone their separate ways. The Harp and the Wyrm, Kira and Jadzia, had settled themselves on the roof of the wagon. The Nomad, O'Brien, was tinkering with the wagon’s machinery. But the one Julian was most curious about was Garak. Garak was examining the canvas covering of the wagon, which gave Julian an opportunity to observe him.

 

Garak was large, larger than any Nomad, almost as tall as a Sap and much bulkier. He was a very pale man, something that was only enhanced by the dark circles under his piercing blue eyes. But the most striking thing about him was the set of obsidian black horns that grew from his jet black hair. Julian had never seen anything like it.

 

Garak turned away from the wagon and his eyes met Julian's. Julian glanced away, embarrassed at having been caught staring.

 

Julian started when Garak settled on the seat next to him. For someone so large, Garak moved amazingly quietly.

 

“Go ahead, ask your questions,” Garak said, seemingly resigned to his fate.

 

“I-I didn't mean to stare,” Julian said sheepishly.

 

Garak gave him a patient smile. “Of course not. You've just never seen a Demon before.”

 

Julian's eye's widened. He'd heard stories, whispered rumors of sinners so terrible they transformed into monsters, but he'd never thought he'd ever  _ see _ one.

 

“I had a similar reaction when I first arrived in the Downside,” Garak explained. “Of course that was many years ago now…” Garak looked Julian over. “You're a Nomad, aren't you?”

 

Julian shrugged. “The Nomads said I was a Savage, moon-touched, that I didn't think properly.”

 

“Ah,” Garak said in understanding. “A minor distinction that will prove immaterial if you're down here long enough. In time, whether you're a Nomad or a Savage, you will, unfortunately, grow horns of your own.”

 

Julian hesitantly held up a hand. “M-may I…?”

 

Garak nodded his consent and Julian tentatively touched one of Garak's horns.

 

“They're lovely,” Julian said shyly as he drew his hand away.

 

“That's very kind of you to say, young man, but you needn't keep up the polite fiction for me, especially since we'll be traveling together for the foreseeable future.” There was a hint of self pity in Garak's expression as he spoke. “I'm well aware that I appear to be a monster in your eyes.”

 

“Not at all,” Julian protested, shaking his head vigorously. “I… You said  _ if  _ I'm down here long enough. Does that mean it's possible to escape?”

 

Garak smiled knowingly at Julian. “Oh yes. It's possible to escape the Downside through joining a team and completing the Rites of Flame. Fortunately for you, you've just been recruited to our little band of misfits: The Defiant.”

**Author's Note:**

> Demons - People who have been transformed after living in the Downside for long enough
> 
> Garak and Julian are both literate, and, thanks to the Commonwealth's ban on literacy, they're the only ones in the group who are. For those of you who are familiar with Pyre, Garak has been serving as the group's Reader.


End file.
